SLO management snubs policy critic

October 1, 2013

Steve Barasch

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Amid allegation of financial inadequacies, San Luis Obispo’s assistant city manager ordered the city clerk to leave the name of an outspoken applicant for a position on the Investment Oversight Committee off a staff report for Tuesday’s meeting.

San Luis Obispo business owner and former mayoral candidate Steve Barasch regularly addresses the city council about a lack of transparency and tactics with which city management invests its citizens’ money.

In August, Barasch applied for the newly created public representative position on the Investment Oversight Committee. He was the only person to do so. Even though city staff typically lists the names of proposed council appointments to advisory bodies and special committees, the assistant city manager ordered the city clerk to leave Barasch’s name off of the staff report.

“It violates the spirit of fair play,” Barasch said. “It’s been their policy to print on the agenda who applied or who they are going to recommend.”

The committee, which oversees the city’s $67 million portfolio, is currently comprised only of city managers and an auditor.

Last week, Councilman Dan Carpenter noticed that Barasch’s name did not appear in the staff report and brought the omission to the attention of acting City Clerk Sheryll Schroeder. Schroeder amended the agenda, but Assistant City Manager Michael Codron then ordered her to leave Barasch’s name off of the staff report, Schroeder said.

“I think it’s unfortunate that Steve’s name was left out of the staff report,” Carpenter said. “They always put the names down.”

After Carpenter questioned Codron about the omission, Codron asked Schroeder to send a memorandum to the council stating that Barasch was the lone applicant.

“The absence of Mr. Barasch’s name from the original report was an administrative oversight,” Codron said when asked why he ordered Schroeder to remove Barasch’s name from the report. “This oversight was corrected by issuing an agenda correspondence which is the normal operating procedure.”

Council policy for appointments to advisory bodies calls for a subcommittee of two council members to interview applicants and make recommendations for the positions.

The staff report for Tuesday’s investment committee appointment states, “The member of the public shall be appointed by the city council in accordance with the city’s process for appointing advisory body members.”

However, Barasch did not receive an interview for the position.

Carpenter said the council is not treating the Investment Oversight Committees as a traditional advisory body and has chosen not to follow the procedure outlined in the Advisory Body Handbook.

But, the Investment Oversight Committee is changing form. The council decided in April to add both a member of the public and a council member to the committee. Both appointments are scheduled to occur at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The change in structure makes the committee subject to California’s open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, which allows for public participation.

“It has to do with transparency,” Carpenter said.

Both Barasch and Carpenter supported the addition of council and public representatives to the investment committee to promote transparency and fiscal oversight.

For example, city management has not publicized its quarterly investment report since January. As of Tuesday, three fiscal quarters have completed since city staff placed the last public report online.

“The reports were completed when they were due, but we just overlooked getting them on the website,” said Finance Director Wayne Padilla.

Prior to July 2011, the city released investment reports monthly. The month before the change, the city’s investment portfolio suffered sizable losses, and it has since continued to decline.

On May 31, 2011, the city held $77 million in its cash and investment portfolio. Since then, the portfolio has decreased more than $10 million to $66.9 million, according to the latest report.

11 Comments

These are not words that should ever have to be used regarding local gov’t actions. There are policies and procedures in place for a reason. Failure to adhere to them is failure. It needs to be addressed.

In addition to being a former mayoral candidate, Steven Barasch is also a 9/11 denier who thinks that the federal government orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that Al-Qaeda was completely innocent and had nothing to do with them. Who knows what other nutty conspiracy theories he will pursue on the Investment Oversight Committee, I think we can find someone better

So Schultz and Leuker are getting axed in Morro Bay for …….hmm not sure. While SLO Admin pulls this type of action? And what is the connection between SLO HR director Irons, married to MB mayor Irons, who hires husband of MB councilperson Johnson? Coincidence, maybe, but seems abit odd.

Michael can’t have you on the committee because you think and you know what you are doing. He simply gets coffee and orders lunch for Katie. Talk about an abuse of discretionary authority. He is simply Katie’s little flunky.